The handling and moving of bedridden patients or mobility impaired persons will often be time-consuming and challenging both for the recipient of such handling and for the person or persons who are to perform the handling and/or moving or transfer. To be able to handle the patient or person optimally, the equipment used during this handling or moving is therefore very often arranged in proximity to the patient or the mobility impaired person.
It is known that equipment for handling and moving bedridden patients or mobility impaired persons is constituted of various lifting devices that are designed to move the patient or person, where these lifting devices may be attached to rails in the ceiling or may be freely movable (“floor travelling”). Various aids are also used in connection with the lifting devices in order to be able to carry out the different tasks, such as lifting slings, lifting straps, patient lift sheets etc.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,878,536, US 2004/0199996 and US 2007/0067911 make known different systems for use in hospitals or similar institutions, where the systems are used in connection with the handling and moving of patients. The systems comprise one or more pivotal arms, to which arms different medical equipment may be connected. The medical equipment may be equipment for monitoring heart/lung function etc., infusion pump(s), defibrillators etc. The use of pivotal arms will allow the equipment that is connected to the arm(s) to be positioned close to the patient. The pivotal arms may also be configured as a lifting device, with the aid of which the patients can be lifted or moved. The known systems are also of such character that either the room in which the systems are to be disposed must be altered or modified before the systems can be installed in the room, or the systems will be of such a character that they take up large parts of the room's floor space.
The aforementioned systems and equipment will, however, be of such character that they are only partly capable of being stowed or put away after use, which means that they will constantly take up a greater or smaller part of the room's floor space. Even more important, however, is that the known solutions will be a nuisance and/or be seen as unworthy for a patient or a mobility impaired person, especially if the equipment is used at the home of the patient or the mobility impaired person.
Furthermore, the systems and equipment according to the known solutions might injure the patient and/or their caregivers, as the equipment between times of use is not secured and out of the area of movement of the caregiver and/or patient. For the same reason, the equipment may also be damaged or rendered ineffective.
The known solutions also comprise loose components that are used during the handling and moving of the patient or the mobility impaired person, for example, lifting bars, lifting slings etc., which easily become misplaced after use.
If the known solutions are to be used in a private home, they will often require extensive installation work and/or alteration of one or more rooms, which often is not desirable.